novelraw Chapter 298: The Queen, Welcome Your King, and Can't I Just Admit I Was Wrong?!
Chapter 298: The Queen, Welcome Your King, and Can't I Just Admit I Was Wrong?!
In Ron's field of vision, a swarm of Black-backed Ring Flies larger than Bludgers came angrily flapping their wings toward him. Their ferocious mouthparts gleamed with cold light. He had no doubt that if bitten by these things, a bloody hole would immediately appear on his body.
As for the insect-repelling potion smeared on his body, though it also had some effect on these Black-backed Ring Flies, the effectiveness was obviously not as useful as against the other ones. It merely slowed their speed slightly, but their desire to attack hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"Damn it, damn it!" Ron hastily pulled out an entire bottle of insect-repelling potion from his chest, throwing it into the air. As this particularly concentrated potion dispersed, these mutant Black-backed Ring Flies finally became dizzy, like they were drunk, swaying groggily in mid-air.
Seizing this opportunity, Ron hurriedly fled the area. Not until those metallic-scraping wing sounds distanced themselves from him did he exhale deeply, still shaken.
"Damn, how could such Black-backed Ring Flies appear?" Nagini's words in his mind made Ron panic. "These Black-backed Ring Flies seem to have been modified by Transfiguration. Ron, just before this, someone arrived at Conston Swamp ahead of you."
This news made Ron's heart sink. But Nagini's comfort quickly calmed him down. "Don't worry. Though Conston Swamp is dangerous, there are still occasionally some wizards who come here to try their luck. But the methods they can master for dealing with Black-backed Ring Flies definitely don't have the efficiency of the insect-repelling potion I brewed."
"They should just be messing around on the outskirts, catching some Black-backed Ring Flies to sell for pocket money. But you, with my guidance, have the opportunity to go deep into the swamp and catch a Queen. When that time comes, you'll be able to produce these Black-backed Ring Flies endlessly. It'll be like owning a gold mine that produces Galleons automatically!"
Hearing this, Ron exhaled deeply, murmuring to himself, "Right. I'm the chosen one, I'm special. If others can't get the Queen, that only proves the Queen was destined to be owned by me!"
Then Ron's eyes filled with fervent heat as he continued to wade through the muddy water with difficulty, heading toward the swamp's depths.
A mass of shadows had already reached the swamp's heartland. Compared to the outer swamp, the putrid smell in the air here was somewhat lighter, but pale white mist floated about. At first glance, the environment seemed somewhat better than the outer swamp.
But Ciel was clicking his tongue in amazement, because that pale white mist contained considerable toxicity. Without measures against it, ordinary wizards might fall unconscious or even die from high fever after inhaling just a little. Even Dark wizards who came to the swamp fully prepared to find the Queen had to be extremely careful.
Shume had come to the swamp's heartland several times but left empty-handed. A large part of the reason was this ubiquitous toxic mist. The longer one stayed, the deeper the toxicity, the greater the danger.
However, such environmental threats didn't exist for Ciel, who had sunk into the shadows. After all, no matter how powerful the toxic fog, it couldn't invade the shadows.
Ciel's attention turned to the Black-backed Ring Flies active in the white mist in this area. After casually catching a few individuals and applying the same Dark Magic Transfiguration as before, Ciel discovered their performance under Dark Magic Transfiguration was indeed much stronger than those from the swamp's outskirts.
Indeed, the closer to the swamp center, the better the Black-backed Ring Flies perform. This is also because it is increasingly close to the Queen. The Black-backed Ring Flies that can remain here are naturally all elite, much stronger than the weak stragglers on the swamp's outskirts. And these aren't even those Black-backed Ring Fly soldiers specifically guarding the Queen. Otherwise, the strength could increase even more.
This made Ciel's eyes show anticipation. If these Black-backed Ring Flies were already like this, one could imagine the Queen's modification effects under Dark Magic Transfiguration.
Then Ciel, in his mind, outlined Shume's description of his several explorations of the swamp heartland's routes. The last time, Shume actually encountered a true guard protecting the Queen. That location should be very close to the Queen's position.
Then Ciel accelerated his patrol around the area. Not until seeing special markings carved on a tree did his eyes brighten. This was precisely the trace Shume left during his last exploration.
Ciel immediately followed these traces, heading deeper into the swamp. The white mist grew increasingly thick, almost to the point where one couldn't see one's hand in front of their face. Ciel's movements suddenly halted.
A mass of shadow suddenly swept through the swamp, entangling a Black-backed Ring Fly nearly fist-sized. The struggling force transmitted from its body was much greater than any Black-backed Ring Fly captured before!
This is a guard protecting the Queen. The corners of Ciel's mouth curved slightly. Finding this thing meant the rest would be easy. Where the Queen was, he could "ask" from the guard's body.
The shadow suddenly expanded, swallowing this guard within. Then, through the Black Shadow Legion characteristic of ancient shadow magic, Ciel eroded this guard, transforming it into part of his shadow will.
The Black-backed Ring Fly, eroded by shadow, under Ciel's control, led him directly toward a location, finally stopping before a hollow, large tree in the swamp's center.
All around were fist-sized Black-backed Ring Fly guards. Inside the hollow tree trunk, Ciel saw a quietly crouching white insect, covered in chitin armor and semi-transparent, amber.
Compared to maggots, it more resembled a silkworm, its size as large as a human head. From time to time, a Black-backed Ring Fly guard would be born from its body.
Seeing this scene, Ciel naturally knew this was the Black-backed Ring Fly colony's Queen. Even in Conston Swamp, such existences were extremely rare and highly valuable.
How many Dark Wizards hoped to obtain one? Just one could greatly increase the power of their Dark Magic Transfiguration. But among all the Dark wizards in Britain's magical world, no one could own a Black-backed Ring Fly Queen.
If Ciel didn't have various advantageous conditions, he'd probably also find it difficult to come here. Moments later, without any delay, Ciel immediately emerged from the shadows. At an extremely fast speed, he placed the Queen into a prepared container, then sank back into the shadows.
The entire process was so fast it could be called lightning-quick. So much so that the guards protecting the Queen were several beats slow before turning one by one to look inside the tree trunk. Their compound eyes seemed to reveal bewildered expressions.
Wait, where's the Queen?
For a long time, anxious wing-beating sounds immediately erupted. The guards frantically patrolled the area, hoping to find traces of the Queen. After finding nothing, a strange phenomenon appeared in them.
Their originally black stripes suddenly became blood-red. Each guard's wing-beating sounds became frenzied. This phenomenon rapidly spread toward the swamp's outskirts.
Everywhere it passed, those Black-backed Ring Flies seemed to all know the Queen had disappeared. One by one, their body stripes also successively became bright red. Even the wriggling maggots in the swamp accelerated their maturation speed, one after another transforming into adult Black-backed Ring Flies, joining the berserk swarm.
Hearing this commotion, Ciel also felt somewhat surprised. Losing the Queen causes Black-backed Ring Flies to enter a berserk state? No one mentioned this before. Perhaps because Queens are truly too difficult to obtain, so no one knows about this situation.
Looking at this momentum, they'll probably indiscriminately attack everything still moving in the swamp. But Ciel quickly put this matter behind him. Attack if they attack. It had nothing to do with him. Moreover, there should be no one else in Conston Swamp. Surely no one could be so unlucky as to still appear in the swamp at this time, right?
In a flash, Ciel left Conston Swamp with the Queen, fully satisfied.
And just at this time, in that pale white mist, Ron had already ventured here. He looked utterly disheveled, his entire body soaked through by foul, muddy water, his skin red, swollen, and unbearably itchy.
Though Nagini had also prepared corresponding potions against this mist for him, each inhalation still felt like inhaling hydrochloric acid into his lungs, extremely choking. But in Ron's view, these were all just trials he had to undergo to obtain the Queen.
"I can persevere. I'm the chosen one, I'm the selected little wizard." Ron murmured to himself.
Just then, a humming sound came from the white fog. Then one after another, entirely blood-red, swollen Black-backed Ring Flies burst forth. Nagini's voice immediately rose, with obvious delight. "These are the guards protecting the Queen. With so many, there's only one possibility. The Queen is nearby!"
Then he felt somewhat puzzled. "But what's wrong with these guards? Why would they all mobilize together? This momentum is..."
Ron's eyes lit up, as if success had finally arrived after all his struggles. "Perhaps they know of my arrival. I'm that chosen wizard. Only I can control the Queen. And the Queen, already unable to wait to be led out of this swamp by me to write a legendary epic page, which is why she sent out these guards."
Ron took a deep breath, raising his head to look at these guards patrolling above. "Tell the Queen, the chosen wizard has arrived. Now, welcome your king!"
Moments later, a frenzied humming arose. Even with the insect-repelling potion's effect, it still couldn't stop these guards that went berserk from losing the Queen. They dove down, viciously biting toward Ron.
Ron's voice gradually became panicked. Unprecedented pain swept through his entire body. "What are you doing? Regicide? I'm the destined king! Don't bite! Help! I was wrong, I won't be a king anymore, stop biting!"
Currently, Ciel has already returned to the Sprout family with the Queen. His eyes swept with fervent heat. He squeezed out a drop of blood toward the Queen, then waved his wand.
Dark Magic Transfiguration manifested. In moments, the Queen's chitin-covered, amber-colored body revealed blood-red threads, like a cocoon, wrapping it within!